Cigar lighter



A. L. FLAMM CIGAR LIGHTER March 9, 1954 Filed Aug. 11, 1949 Kee /NVENTO/ ALEXANDER L. FLAMM.

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ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 9, 1954 `CIGAR LIGHTER Alexander L. Flamm, Bridgeport, Conn., assignor to Ronson Art Metal Works, Inc., Newark, N ..`.I., a corporation of New `iersey Application August 11, 1949, Serial No. 109,647

4 Claims. (Cl. 67-7.1)

The invention relates to cigar lighters of the type wherein a ngerpiece actuated mechanism is used to produce and extinguish the flame. In one of its aspects the invention relates more particularly to a ngerpiece construction of the above character which, as hereinafter set forth in greater detail, has certain advantages in respect to the structural relationship between the iingerpiece and the fuel container and other operating parts of the lighter. In another aspect the invention relates more particularly to the operating mechanism actuated by the iingerpiece, whereby for example the valve of a lighter fueled by gas kunder pressure, may be readily opened or closed by loperation of the fingerpiece, or a windshield for the flame moved between operative and inoperative positions vby operation of the fingerpiece. Further objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious and in part Specifically referred to in the description hereinafter contained which, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred form of cigar lighter constructed to operate in accordance with the invention; the disclosure however should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles of the invention in its broader aspects. In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a central vertical section .taken through a cigar lighter constructed lin accord- 'ancewith the invention.

Fig. 2 .is a .fragmentary section taken on the broken .line :2--2 of Fig, l looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. `3 is a detail side view with .certain parts cui; away, of the upper left hand portion of the ,lighter shown in Fig. l.

The invention is disclosed as applied to a lighter ofthe type which is fueled by gas under pressure, .and wherein 'a gas fuel container 60 is removably .received within an vouter enclosing casing 88 vwhich carries lthe .operating'parts of the lighter. .In the form shown, the .fuel container is provided `with a top wall .6 a and a bottom wall ilb .between which extends a .tube 8.5 which .receives vthe flint tube of the lighter, `this vint tube having vat .its .lower end 'an 'adjusting .screw 86, and containing a spring 86a which urges the -iiint *M into contact lwith a sparking wheel as hereinafter described. The upper wall 53a of the fuel container is also shown as having mounted therein `an appropriate fuel valve structure denoted Vgenerally at y62 and the details of which need not be fully described, it .being understood that the valve structure includes a rec'iprocable `valve plunger .63 having .a T-like'head 64 within vwhich .such plate.

a burner opening 65 is provided, the valve'plunger B3 being urged toward closedposition by -a spring (not shown) and lifted to open position as hereinafter described, to .admit gaseous fuel to the burner opening 65. Fuel such as butane .or propane may be charged into the container .Sil through a .charging opening o, which is thereupon sealed by a -threaded plug -Bd .bearing against a gasket 60e., whereupon the fuel is lprogressively converted into gaseous form to ,provide a supply of gaseous fuel under Apressure for delivery through the valve structure above yreferred to. A mass 6l of fuel absorbent.material such as cotton will usually be provided in container Eil, and the above .described Vparts oi' the container are secured in fluid-tight .relation 'to each other. When la fuel container of the above type is .removed from its enclosing casing 88, .as may be done after removal of the detachable cap 88a at the bottom of the casing Iand release of the screw 86 which clamps the fuel container to the actuating mechanism, the above described valve structure comes out with the fuel container, being a constituent part thereof, but the flint tube 'I5 remains in place, being secured to a plat 't6 located above the fuel container. f

The ngerpiece structure for actuating the operating mechanism of the lighter comprises a iingerpiece proper G1, having a hollow stern 61a extending downwardly therefrom, and slidably engaging within a socket member 69 located exteriorly of the fuel container and extending upwardly from the plate 66. A guide post 'l0 is positioned centrally within the socket 69 and slidably engages 'within the stem'la of the lingerpiece to guide the latter during its reciprocatory movements. In the 'illustrated form of the invention a `band-#like frame piece 9B extends around the fingerpiece `and lits telescopically within-the upper portion ofthe outer casing 88, and the base `plate :E5 is attached to frame `piece 90iby-a screw .Si which passes 'into an internal flange 92 on The ngerpiece 61 lis vurged toward its upper idle position by 'a restoring spring 68 surrounding 'the members 61a and '59, and f'the frame .piece E@ is shown as provided `with an inwardly extending lip 93 under which a iiange .67h Yat the bottom of the ngerpiece engages 5to limit .the upwardmovement of the fingerpiece. A construction of the above character in eiect houses in the iingerpiece, .and either the'fuelfcontainer or the iingerpiece structure maybe removed yfrom assembly Without vinterfering with the other, the two being structurally inolepenrl ent, although .they rest one againstthe other .when the parts are in assembledposition.

Sparking wheel 1l is mounted upon an axle 12 which is supported between webs 13 extending upwardly from the plate 55, in position to project sparks 14 into the path of a stream of gas issuing from burner vopening 65, when valve plunger 63 is open, and sparking wheel 'H is rotated. As shown, the opposite side walls of the ngerpiece 61 are provided with sets of teeth 84 (Figs. 1 and 3) which engage respectively with gears 8| mounted on axle 'I2 on opposite sides of sparking wheel 1|. An appropriate pawl and ratchet mechanism will be understood as acting between the gearing above described and wheel H to rotate the latter when fingerpiece 6| is depressed, this mechanism not being shown or described in detail since appropriate forms thereof are known in the art.

To open the valve plunger $3 when the iingerpiece is moved from idle to active position as .above described, i mount one or more cam members 83 on the axle 12, in position to actuate a lever 'I6 located beneath. the sparking wheel ''l and engaging with the head Sil of valve plunger t3, to lift the valve immediately to open position when ngerpiece Sl is depressed from the idle position shown in Fig. l. As shown two of these cams 83 are provided, and constituted by earS at the sides of a protective closure cap 3o, which overlies the burner opening 55 when the cap 88 is closed, the cap being thus pivotally mounted to swing about the axle '32. The ears 33 which act as cams, are to be understood as fixed with respect to the gears Si, so that when the nngerpiece is depressed from the idle position shown in Fig. 1, the cap 86 is tilted to an upright position in which it is clear of the burner opening 65 and gases issuing therefrom. So long as ngerpiece Gl remains in its depressed active position, the closure cap remains open, and when manual pressure on the 'lngerpieee is released, spring S3 restores the closure cap to the position shown in Fig. 1.

The cam members 83 above referred to are provided with peak portions S2 (Fig. 3) which rock the fuel valve actuating lever 'it to move the fuel valve plunger 64 immediately to substantially fully open position during the initial part of the downward movement of ngerpiece 5l, and during the remainder of such downward movement the cams act to hold the fuel valve in fully open position while sparking wheel l! continues to be rotated to project sparks into the path of the stream of gaseous fuel issuing from burner opening 55. In the form shown, the fuel valve actuating lever is pivoted about a stud 'il supported by bearings 'i8 on the webs 'I3 above mentioned, the right hand end of the lever as the parts appear in Figs. l and 2 surrounding the iiint 14, and the left hand end of the lever having an opening 89 therein within which the valve plunger' 63 is located, in such manner that the lever engages with lugs 'E9 (Figs. 'l and 3) on the head 64 of the fuel valve.

When the fuel container and associated parts are to bedisassembled with respect to the operating mechanism of the lighter, the head 64 of the fuel valve is twisted until it registers with the opening 89 in lever 16, whereupon the fuel conftainer may be removed through the bottom of casing 88 as previously described; and the operating mechanism of the lighter, which is all carried bythe frame piece 95 and plate 68 affixed thereto, may be separately removed when desired, through the upper end oi casing 88,

While the invention has been disclosed as carried out by a lighter of the above described specific construction, it should be understood that changes may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A cigar lighter including a casing enclosing a fuel chamber, a hollow socket member mounted at one end thereof on said casing with the remainder thereof extending away from said fuel chamber, a' nngerpiece having a hollow stem which fits within said socket member with its exterior wall in engagement with the interior wall of said socket member, the free end of said stem being spaced from said end of said socket member in the idle position of said nngerpiece, a guidepost mounted at one end thereof on said casing with the remainder thereof extending away from said fuel chamber, said guidepost being mounted within said hollow stern with the eX- terior surface thereof in engagement with the interior wall of said stem, and a restoring spring for said ngerpiece surrounding said stem and socket member and mounted between said casing and said fingerpieoe.

2. A cigar lighter including a casing enclosing a fuel chamber, a hollow socket member mounted at one end. thereof on the top wall of said casing with the remainder thereof extending above said top wall, a ngerpiece having a stem which reciprocably engages with said socket member, a restoring spring for said iingerpiece surrounding said socket member and said stem and mounted between said ngerpiece and said top wall, a sparking wheel mounted above and on said top wall, and mechanism inter-connecting said nngerpiece at one side of said stem with said sparking wheel to rotate the latter as said ngerpiece moves from idle to active position, said casing having a frame piece above said top wall and at least partially surrounding said iingerpiece and said socket member and said frame piece being engageable with said ngerpiece on the opposite side of said stem from Said mechanism to limit the movement imparted to said ngerpiece by said spring.

3. A gas fueled cigar lighter of the character described, including a casing having therein a chamber constructed to contain a gaseous fuel under pressure, a finger piece, sparking wheel, fuel burner and closure cap mounted at the top of said casing, means interposed between said finger piece and burner for mounting said wheel and closure cap to move angularly, said linger piece being mounted to move between idle and active positions, a fuel valve interposed between the mouth of said burner and said fuel chamber, mechanism interconnecting said finger piece, sparking wheel and closure cap to turn said wheel and swing said closure cap to a burner exposing position upon movement of said finger piece from idle to active position, a rocking lever underlying said closure cap and engaging said fuel valve, and a cam member moving angularly with said closure cap to actuate said lever and open said valve, as said closure member swings toward its aforesaid burner exposing position.

4. A gas fueled cigar lighter of the character described, including a casing having therein a chamber constructed to contain gaseous `fuel under pressure, a fuel burner structure extending through the top wall of said casing, said burner Vstructure including a reciprocable fuel valve interposed between the mouth of the burner and said chamber, a depressible ngerpiece, means for reciprocably mounting said ngerpiece upon the top wall of said casing to move between an upper idle position wherein said valve is closed and a lower active position where said valve is open, a sparking wheel mounted upon the top wall of said casing for rotation about an axis located between the fingerpiece and the burner, a closure cap pivotally mounted upon the top wall of the casing to swing angularly about the same axis between lower burner covering and upper burner exposing positions, said closure cap having a cam member spaced laterally from said sparking wheel along the axis thereof and angularly movable with said closure cap about said axis, mechanism interconnecting said ngerpiece, sparking wheel and closure cap to simultaneously rotate said wheel and swing said closure cap upwardly to burner exposing position as the ngerpiece moves from its upper idle to its lower active position, said lighter also including a lever mechanism underlying said cam member and engageable therewith upon initial movement thereof, said lever mechanism extending from 2 said cam member to the fuel valve and interconnecting the cam member with said valve to open the latter as the ngerpiece moves downwardly to actuate the first above-mentioned mechanism to rotate the sparking wheel and swing the closure cap upwardly as aforesaid.

ALEXANDER L. FLAMM.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,508,600 Guinn Sept. 16, 1924 1,844,481 Rogers Feb. 9, 1932 1,900,684 Aronson Mar. 7, 1933 1,941,873 Aronson Jan. 2, 1934 2,051,934 Aronson Aug. 25, 1936 2,395,783 Holtzman Feb. 26, 1946 2,451,515 Simon et al. Oct. 19, 1948 2,482,794 Peterson Sept. 27, 1949 2,515,733 Quercia et al July 18, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 591,487 Great Britain Aug. 19, 1947 682,508 France Feb. 17,1930 787,706 France July 8, 1935 815,729 France Apr. 12,1937 

